Support at Home Aged Care CFO Checklist: Financial Transition Plan for Providers

Support at Home is the most significant aged care reform since AN-ACC. For aged care providers delivering home care services, it replaces Home Care Packages, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) programme with a single, classification-based model. For finance leaders, the transition creates real risk: pricing frameworks, funding mechanics, cash flow profiles and system requirements all change.

This CFO-focused checklist covers the financial work required to be ready — and to protect margin through the transition.

Phase 1: Understand the funding model changes

Before building any financial model, your CFO or finance manager needs to fully understand the new funding mechanics. Key differences from existing Home Care Packages:

• **Classification-based funding**: Eight funding levels (replacing the current four Home Care Package levels) with higher funding ceilings for complex needs. • **Service-type caps**: Budgets split across clinical care, independence support and everyday living rather than consumer-directed pooled funds. • **Co-contributions by service type**: Varying co-contribution rates depending on whether the service is clinical (lower), independence (moderate) or everyday living (higher). • **Quarterly budget allocations**: Shift from annual to quarterly budget release, with unused funds rolling forward subject to caps. • **Activity-based billing**: Services billed on delivery rather than against package fees.

Phase 2: Financial readiness checklist

Pricing framework review:

− Do you have a current pricing schedule for every service type you deliver? − Have you benchmarked your prices against the new Support at Home price caps (when published)? − Have you modelled your contribution margin per service type after new co-contribution rates? − Have you identified services where current pricing will fall below the price cap (revenue risk)? − Have you identified services with room to raise prices to the cap (revenue opportunity)?

Cash flow and working capital:

− Have you modelled cash flow impact of shifting from annual to quarterly budgets? − Have you built a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast covering the transition period? − Do you have a plan for managing clients with significant unspent package balances at transition? − Have you stress-tested cash flow assuming delayed claim approvals in the first 90 days? − Have you arranged contingent working capital (line of credit, invoice finance) in case of receipt delays?

Claiming and billing system:

− Is your care management software configured for Support at Home claiming codes? − Have you tested end-to-end billing through to Services Australia acceptance? − Have you built exception reports for unbilled visits, rejected claims and aging receivables? − Does your finance team understand how to reconcile claims across the new classification categories? − Have you trained front-line rostering staff on how service categorisation affects billing and revenue?

Margin and cost structure:

− Have you modelled staffing costs by service type under the new classifications? − Have you identified service lines that may become unprofitable at the new price caps? − Have you planned for co-contribution collection risk and bad debt provisions? − Do you have a clear view of administration cost recovery under the new funding model? − Have you stress-tested margin scenarios for a 5% and 10% price cap reduction?

Workforce implications:

− Have you modelled rostering efficiency under classification-based budgets? − Do you have a plan for managing high-cost clients whose new classification generates less revenue? − Have you planned for potential exit of clinically complex clients if margin becomes unworkable? − Is your staff ratio aligned to delivering the mix of services your classification profile demands? − Have you updated employment contracts and enterprise agreements for the new service delivery model?

Client communication:

− Have you drafted client letters explaining the transition and any co-contribution changes? − Do you have a plan for handling client resistance to new pricing or service structures? − Have you segmented clients by transition risk (those most likely to reduce services or exit)? − Is your front-line team trained on explaining classification-based services?

Board and governance:

− Has the board been briefed on Support at Home financial implications? − Have you modelled a base case, downside case and upside case for board discussion? − Do you have board-level KPIs defined for the transition period (cash burn, claim acceptance rate, margin deviation)? − Is there a board-approved contingency plan if cash flow stress emerges?

Phase 3: Financial transition model

Every aged care provider moving to Support at Home should have a financial transition model covering at minimum:

1. **Client-level transition view**: Every existing client mapped to their likely Support at Home classification, expected revenue, expected cost of delivery and margin contribution. 2. **Service-line margin analysis**: Each service type (personal care, domestic assistance, clinical nursing, transport, etc.) with new margin after co-contribution and price cap assumptions. 3. **Cash flow bridge**: Monthly cash flow from current state through 24 months post-transition, including working capital changes, system transition costs and billing cycle delays. 4. **Sensitivity analysis**: Impact of 5% price reductions, 10% claim rejection rate, 30-day claim delay and 15% client attrition. 5. **Board reporting pack**: Pre-built templates for monthly board reporting during the transition period, showing actual versus model and flagging variance.

Phase 4: Where a CFO adds the most value

This is a genuinely complex financial transition. Aged care providers with experienced sector-specialist CFO support (full-time or fractional) will make fewer mistakes, identify more margin opportunities, and manage the cash flow transition more safely than those without.

The highest-value CFO interventions during the Support at Home transition are:

• **Classification review**: Modelling expected classification profile based on current client base and identifying where reassessment may shift revenue. • **Price cap modelling**: Understanding which services are capped above your current price (upside) and which are capped below (downside). • **Cash flow protection**: Arranging contingent working capital before receipt delays materialise, not after. • **System configuration validation**: Ensuring care management and finance systems are ready to bill and reconcile correctly from day one. • **Board confidence**: Giving the board a clear, quantified view of the financial path through the transition so strategic decisions can be made with certainty.

Support at Home CFO support

CFO Insights provides specialist fractional and virtual CFO services for aged care providers across Australia, including Support at Home transition planning. If you are preparing for Support at Home and want senior financial leadership embedded in the transition, [book a discovery call](/contact) or [explore our aged care funding hub](/aged-care-funding).